The great men of a nation reach out to all mankind. They are unifying, not divisive; internationally conciliating and still great nationally.

In every man the memory of the struggles and the heroes of the past is alive. But these memories are not incompatible with the desire for peace in the future.

Just as the child is father to the man, so the impressions of one's youth remain the most vivid in manhood.

To walk behind others on a road you are traveling together, to give precedence to others without envy - this is painful for an individual and painful for a nation.

But just as haste and restlessness are typical of our present-day life, so change also takes place more rapidly than before. This applies to change in the relationships between nations as it does to change within an individual nation.

For the victor peace means the preservation of the position of power which he has secured. For the vanquished it means resigning himself to the position left to him.

During the past few years I have led a sometimes hard battle for German foreign policy.